The 6,000sph HP Indigo 100K arrived at JDP’s Whitchurch site this week. Venn co-founder Anthony Thirlby said it was part of the firm’s fresh strategy to focus on B2 production.
“The throughput speed of the 100K is very attractive to us, and will give us a significant increase in capacity equivalent to 140%,” he explained.
“Some might say it’s a brave move but it’s strategically right for what we’re doing across our offering. We have some contractual work starting from 1st May.”
The new press replaces an older Indigo 7600 model, and joins JDP's existing B2 HP Indigo 12K device.
Thirlby said the JDP’s recently recruited additional sales people had “hit the ground running”, and the business had also been approached by some of CPI Colour’s customers who were “looking for a new home” because of the parent group’s decision to exit commercial print.
“Corporate and financial print was a huge market back in the day, and the requirement for that type of product is still there and very evident.
“The London market is a big part of our strategy and we aim to have a manufacturing facility in London within our first 12 months,” Thirlby stated.
The acquisitive buy-and-build business also hopes to complete another buy within the next couple of months.
Thirlby said the seven-figure investment in the HP Indigo 100K also included some structural changes at JDP including power and refrigeration. The press has been financed through HP Financial Services.
Thirlby expects to be running sheets on the 100K tomorrow (16 April) and to move into full production at the end of next week. It will run on double-day shifts.
“The 100K will be a throughput machine for us. We will be able to produce collated book blocks straight out of the press, which reduces the requirement in post-press labour and folding.
“We are looking to run it in EPM mode for 80%-85% of the time, and are working on upstream intelligent workflow to achieve that,” he added.
HP's Enhanced Productivity Mode (EPM) involves running with three colours instead of four.
Thirlby said that key markets for JDP’s digital offering included personalisation and work with a lot of version changes, and the firm would target B2C and B2B customers.
Peter Jolly, UK and Ireland country manager for HP Indigo, said that JDP’s strategy was in tune with the way run lengths were changing.
“It is refreshing to see JDP’s focused strategy here in removing two litho presses and applying the associated volumes across the two B2 HP Indigo presses. A clear strategy that acknowledges the way print and its run lengths are behaving both now and in the coming years ahead.”
Thirlby said JDP had shown the highest growth in impressions across HP Indigo’s European business since he and business partner Andy Rae took over the Hampshire company, which was now operating at a run rate equivalent to turnover of around £5.2m. Thirlby said the duo had also been able to fulfil their promise at the time of the acquisition to bring furloughed staff back into the business within a month.
Pureprint installed the UK’s first 100K in October 2020.
HP took the wraps off a revamp of the entire Indigo range in Q1 2020, as part of what would have been its Drupa launches had the show gone ahead.
